Is Hong Kong the first market in the world to get an iPhone 3G which is both officially unlocked at the time of purchase and not tied to a carrier plan? According to the Apple HK iPhone store page, quite possibly:
iPhone 3G purchased at the Apple Online Store can be activated with any wireless carrier. Simply insert the SIM from your current phone into iPhone 3G and connect to iTunes 8 to complete activation.
They’re not cheap though. The 8GB phone costs HK$5400 (approx US$700) and the 16GB is HK$6200 (approx US$800).
No, it’s been always like that in Belgium and Italy.
But in Belgium and Italy although the phone is unlocked, you need to buy a plan with the phone. In Hong Kong that’s no longer the case.
It is not true that you need to buy a plan with the phone in Belgium. Actually, it’s even prohibited by law to sell two items together without allowing to buy them separately. Of course, this also means that the iPhone is more expensive in Belgium than anywhere else 🙂
What is true though is that you have to deal with a mobile operator to get one (Mobistar, which has the exclusivity on the iPhone), and their salespeople can allegedly be very persuasive. But you don’t have to listen to them at all, just buy the thing and do wathever you like want it.